Softwr

Accounting · head to head

Airbase vs Conta

Airbase logo

Airbase

Accounting

Spend management combining corporate cards, bill payment and expense claims, now part of Paylocity

From
$29/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Conta logo

Conta

Accounting

Norwegian accounting software for small and growing businesses

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Conta has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Airbase card issuing and bill payment are built around United States entities and United States bank accounts, so a group with subsidiaries abroad keeps running local card and payment processes alongside and does not get the single ledger of spend that justified the purchase.; Conta norwegian pricing only: displayed in NOK without multi-currency support for international comparisons
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 2 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Airbase and Conta actually diverge.

Attributes where Airbase and Conta differ
AttributeAirbaseConta
Starting price$29/monthFree
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, Ios, AndroidWeb
Founded2017Unknown

Identical on both: pricing model (subscription), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Accounting).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Airbase

  • Corporate cards
  • Virtual cards per vendor
  • Bill payment
  • Expense reimbursement
  • Unified approval policy
  • Purchase intake and procurement
  • Automated coding
  • Receipt collection

Only in Conta

Nothing recorded that Airbase does not also cover.

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Airbase

  • A company that has outgrown one shared company card and needs per person and per subscription cards with real limitsnot Conta
  • A finance team where supplier invoices arrive in an inbox and approval is whoever replies, with no record afterwardsnot Conta
  • A controller trying to close the month without rebuilding card and expense coding from statements every timenot Conta
  • An organisation that wants spend approved before it is committed rather than discovered when the invoice arrivesnot Conta

Conta

  • Norwegian small business accounting and invoicingnot Airbase
  • Project and department cost trackingnot Airbase
  • EHF/eInvoice generation for Norwegian regulatory compliancenot Airbase

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Airbase

  • Card issuing and bill payment are built around United States entities and United States bank accounts, so a group with subsidiaries abroad keeps running local card and payment processes alongside and does not get the single ledger of spend that justified the purchase.
  • The value depends on nearly all spend flowing through the platform, which makes partial adoption almost worthless and means the rollout is a change management exercise across every budget holder rather than a finance department deployment.
  • Paylocity's acquisition in 2024 reorients the roadmap towards a human capital management suite, so expense reimbursement is likely to be well served while procurement and the more finance specific features compete for attention with payroll and HR priorities.
  • Pricing combines a platform fee with tiering on features and users, and part of the economics rests on interchange rebates from card spend, so a company that puts most of its spend on transfers rather than cards pays the fee without earning the offset.
  • The general ledger sync is a mapping you own, so a chart of accounts change, a new department dimension or a ledger migration means reworking the coding rules, and a bad mapping quietly posts correct approvals to the wrong accounts.

Conta

  • Norwegian pricing only: displayed in NOK without multi-currency support for international comparisons
  • Annual billing required: no monthly-pay option for either tier, forcing yearly commitment
  • Pro tier vaporware: listed as 'coming soon' with no pricing or feature roadmap provided
  • Limited feature differentiation: Smart tier is 'most selected' by customers but does not clearly explain what additional business value justifies 62% price premium over Standard

Pricing, plan by plan

Airbase

$29/month
  • StandardFree
    • Corporate cards
    • Expense reports
    • Bill pay
  • Premium$10/month
    • Advanced approvals
    • NetSuite sync
    • Procurement
  • Enterprise$undefined/month
    • Custom workflows
    • API access
    • Dedicated support

Conta

Free
  • Conta Regnskap Standard$209/month (billed annually)
  • Conta Regnskap Smart$339/month (billed annually)
  • Conta Regnskap Pro$undefined/mo

Which should you pick?

Choose Airbase if

  • You need corporate cards.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android.
  • You also want virtual cards per vendor.
Airbase review

Choose Conta if

  • You want to start without paying.
Conta review

Questions people ask

Is Airbase or Conta better?
Neither clearly leads. Airbase starts at $29/month and Conta at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Airbase or Conta?
Conta has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $29/month for Airbase and Free for Conta.
Does Airbase or Conta run on more platforms?
Airbase runs on Web, Ios, Android. Conta runs on Web.
Can I use Conta for free?
Yes. Conta has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Airbase starts at $29/month.
What is Airbase best used for?
Airbase is most often used for a company that has outgrown one shared company card and needs per person and per subscription cards with real limits, a finance team where supplier invoices arrive in an inbox and approval is whoever replies, with no record afterwards, a controller trying to close the month without rebuilding card and expense coding from statements every time, an organisation that wants spend approved before it is committed rather than discovered when the invoice arrives. Of those, a company that has outgrown one shared company card and needs per person and per subscription cards with real limits and a finance team where supplier invoices arrive in an inbox and approval is whoever replies, with no record afterwards are not what Conta is typically brought in for.
What can Airbase do that Conta cannot?
Airbase covers Corporate cards, Virtual cards per vendor, Bill payment, Expense reimbursement.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Airbase: Does it work for companies outside the United States?

Partially. Some international spend and reimbursement is supported, but card issuing and the payment rails are strongest for United States entities. Confirm coverage for each country you operate in before assuming it replaces local processes.

Conta: How much does Conta cost per month?

Conta Regnskap Standard costs 209 NOK/month and Smart costs 339 NOK/month, billed annually. Both exclude VAT and include a 30-day free trial option.

Source
Airbase: Does Airbase replace our accounting system?

No. It manages spend and pushes coded transactions into the ledger. QuickBooks, NetSuite or whatever else you use stays.

Conta: Can I pay monthly instead of annually?

No. Both Standard and Smart tiers require annual billing at a fixed monthly rate. Monthly-payment options are not available.

Source
Airbase: What changed after the Paylocity acquisition?

Ownership and roadmap direction. The product continues, now positioned alongside Paylocity's payroll and HR products. If procurement is your main reason to buy, ask directly about investment in that module.

Conta: What is included in the Standard vs. Smart plan?

Standard includes accounting, invoicing, unlimited receipts, mobile app, and EHF/eInvoice. Smart adds KID numbers, unlimited EHF, project/department management, free chat/phone support, and exclusive equipment discounts.

Source
Airbase: How is it priced?

A platform subscription with tiers, plus usage and user dimensions, partly offset by rebates on card spend. Because the rebate depends on card volume, model your own mix of card versus transfer spend before accepting a payback figure.

Conta: When will the Pro plan be available and what will it cost?

The Pro tier is listed as 'coming soon' on the pricing page with no published pricing or launch date provided.

Source
Airbase: Can we use it for accounts payable only?

You can, but the approval consistency argument weakens considerably. Most of the reported benefit comes from cards, bills and reimbursements sharing one policy and one coding process.

Airbase: Will our auditors accept the approval records?

The per transaction record of approver, receipt and coding is generally what auditors want to see for spend testing. Agree the sampling approach with them early, particularly around any spend that still happens outside the platform.

Share

Related pages

More on Airbase

More on Conta

Keep looking

Other head to heads